“Masonic Medical Research Laboratory”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Masonic Medical Research Laboratory is a research organization founded by the Grand Lodge of New York.^[1] The LABORATORY studies experimental cardiology with an emphasis on cardiac arrhythmias, ischemic heart disease and sudden cardiac death.

History

The MMRL was established in 1958, sponsored by the Grand Lodge of New York, for the purpose of general research in cardiology.^[2] Over the years, the MMRL was engaged in research into cardiac electrophysiology, blood substitutes, vision, muscular dystrophy, hypertension and geriatrics.^[3] The institution has been administered by Directors of Research since its inception, Dr. Murray Steele, Dr. Gordon K. Moe ^[4]^[5].

MMRL established the Cardiac Research Institute, a scientific and medical research center focused on developing strategies to combat heart disease, including new heart medications and diagnostic procedures for the management of cardiac arrhythmias. Its researchers have studied the mechanisms underlying sudden cardiac death and other arrhythmia syndromes and have evaluated approaches to therapy. The institute also houses a genetic screening center for families afflicted with sudden death syndromes.

In 2013 the institute's staff consisted of about 40 researchers and administrators and its budget was about $4.5 million. It received financial support from the Grand Lodges of New York, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Delaware; and a, derived from individual donations,^[6] It also received corporate grants, research grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Current research programs

Past scientific research results

In 1960 researchers at MMRL developed a mathematical model for use in the study of atrial fibrillation. In 1966 they demonstrated dual pathways in the AV node and showed the basis for AV nodal tachycardia.

In 1973 Institute researchers showed that oscillatory afterpotentials (delayed afterdepolarizations) was the basis for arrhythmias associated with digitalis toxicity. Over the next several years later they explored modulated parasystole and reflection as mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias.

In the 1980s research staff worked to clarify the differences between epicardium and endocardium, and found that the presence of an action potential notch in epicardium, but not endocardium, is responsible for inscription of the electrocardiographic J wave. They found differences in the response of epicardium and endocardium to a variety of drugs and neurotransmitters.

In the 1990s MMRL researchers discovered the M cell, confirming that the heart is made of several different cell types. In 1998 they uncovered the cellular basis for the various waves that appear on an electrocardiogram including the J, T and U waves.

Between 1996 and 1998 MMRL published the first gene, SCN5A, to be linked to idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF). The MMRL named this the Brugada syndrome in 1996, after Josep and Pedro Brugada, who first described this as a new clinical entity in 1992, and in 1999 proposed use of quinidine and isoproterenol for its treatment.^[9]

In 2000 the MMRL research team uncovered evidence linking Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to a congenital heart defect, the Long QT syndrome (LQTS) published in The New England Journal of Medicine. That year they also found experimental evidence, confirmed by later research,{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} that some forms of early repolarization could result in the development of life-threatening arrhythmias.

During the next few years MMRL discovered several genes that when mutated give rise to the Long QT, Short QT, Brugada and Early Repolarization syndromes.^[10] They later demonstrated that, ranolazine (Ranexa), a drug approved for ischemic heart disease, was capable of suppressing both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias.

In 2007 MMRL researchers studied atrial-selective sodium channel block as a strategy to manage atrial fibrillation. They later demonstrated that the combination of ranolazine (Ranexa) and dronedarone (Multaq) could prevent the development of atrial fibrillation, which led to Phase 2 clinical trials.

In 2010 MMRL described “J Wave Syndromes” a subset of inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndromes characterized by accentuated J waves, including the Brugada and Early Repolarization syndromes. Soon after, the research team identified Wenxin Keli, a herbal Chinese medicine, as an atrial selective sodium channel blocker capable of suppressing atrial fibrillation in experimental models. In 2012 they also identified Wenxin Keli and Milrinone as potential pharmacological therapies for the Brugada syndrome.

Education and training

The MMRL offers a Postdoctoral Fellowship Program as well as a Predoctoral Research Training Program which is administered in affiliation with SUNY Upstate Medical University at Syracuse, New York. Its ten-week Summer Fellowship Program, initiated in 1960, provides hands-on experience in research to students in the life sciences.^[11] NNRL also operates Mentoring Programs with BOCES, tours and shadowing programs to provide information to high school students about careers in science and research.

Selected publications

References

1. ^"Every Heartbeat Counts celebration raises $85,000". Rome Sentinel, Oct 27, 2014
2. ^{{cite book|author=Mark A. Tabbert|title=American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNO3AAAAIAAJ|date=15 June 2005|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-8292-7|page=206}}
3. ^{{cite book|title=The New International Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaQYAAAAIAAJ|year=1956|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|page=183}}
4. ^"Cardiac researcher lectures in China". Rome Sentinel, Jun 2, 2014
5. ^Misha Angrist, Subhashini Chandrasekharan, Christopher Heaney and Robert Cook-Deegan. "Impact of gene patents and licensing practices on access to genetic testing for long QT syndrome". Genetics in Medicine (2010) 12, S111–S154; doi:10.1097/GIM.0b013e3181d68293
6. ^"Every Heartbeat Counts Celebration a Success". Madison County Courier.
7. ^"Brugada syndrome delved into in the New York Times". Medscape, Michael O'Riordan February 10, 2004
8. ^{{cite book|title=Inborn Genetic Diseases: Advances in Research and Treatment: 2011 Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MxH1rm9c6IQC&pg=PA1|date=9 January 2012|publisher=ScholarlyEditions|isbn=978-1-4649-2829-1|pages=1–}}
9. ^[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/10/science/out-of-the-blue-a-lightning-bolt-to-the-heart.html?_r=0 "Out of the Blue, a Lightning Bolt to the Heart"]. International New York Times, By SANDEEP JAUHAR, FEB. 10, 2004
10. ^"Brain Sodium Channels in Heart Linked to Sudden Cardiac Death". Integrative Medicine, July 2014.
11. ^"Masonic fellowship program offers real-world experience". Times Telegram, Aug. 1, 2016